Spring Cleaning: The Fun and Easy Way

Spring cleaning gives us the chance to get things set up and organized early in the year, so we can focus on other matters later on. Shutterstock

It’s that time of year again. Many people begin their spring cleaning rhythms and make their homes sparkling and fresh from top to bottom. I love the idea, but in this season of raising three young kids, it’s a daunting task to undertake.

To be honest, spring cleaning has always overwhelmed me. I felt the desire to want to deep clean everything, but struggled to know how to do it effectively, especially with little ones around.

Now before you roll your eyes and say there’s no way that spring cleaning can be easy and possibly even fun, just keep reading.

The key to how I manage this whole-house task is this–create a simple spring cleaning calendar.

The idea came about from my monthly chore chart–where each day of the month is designated to a single two-minute task. These are little jobs that I tend to forget to do on a regular basis (like wiping underneath the kitchen sink), but still need to be done about once a month.

The monthly chore chart works so well for me (and also for our kids) because I don’t feel overwhelmed with having to cram all my housework into one day of the week. Instead, I can give myself grace to chip away at it throughout the month. And I get the satisfaction of putting a big star over that day’s chore when it’s completed.

Here’s my secret to making spring cleaning fun and easy…

Making a Spring Cleaning Calendar

Making a spring cleaning calendar is actually very easy. It just takes some assessing of your rooms and deciding what your main priorities are. Here’s how I set up my calendar from start to finish.

1. Go Room by Room and Assess What Needs to Be Done.

Before you even fill up a bucket or begin wiping out cabinets, go room by room and decide on the tasks that need to be done. Take a paper and pencil around the house as you sit in each room and make a list of everything that needs to be done.

Then, circle your priorities. Which tasks are the most crucial to get done? You don’t want to burn out before you’re even finished. Keep this list, since you’ll use it to make your calendar.

2. Print Off a Calendar Template to Organize Your Spring Cleaning Tasks.

I use this great one from Just a Girl and Her Blog that you can download here.

3. Decide What Order to Clean Your Rooms.

We become more motivated to continue something challenging when we see completion of something small. So for this reason, I recommend diving into your cleaning by working with one room at a time before moving onto the next.

Not sure which room to start with? Think of the room that has the most emotional benefits for you. Do you spend most of your time in the kitchen? Would a deep cleaned bedroom be a way for you to completely relax?

There’s no right or wrong order as to which rooms to clean first, but start with the one that you’ll be most motivated to begin.

4. Begin Filling in Your Spring Cleaning Calendar.

The easiest way I approach cleaning every room is by designating each week of the month to a different room. I begin on a Monday and end on Saturday and during the week, that room gets cleaned from top to bottom.

I do the kitchen first, then the living room, followed by the master bedroom, main bathroom, playroom/sunroom, and lastly the kids’ rooms. You decide what works best for you!

After each week is designated to cleaning a different room, it’s time to add daily tasks to each day. Remember, these should be simple, manageable tasks that can be done in about 20 minutes.

I do a “top to bottom” approach when I spring clean– begin with the ceiling and work your way down to the floor. Dust falls, so you don’t want to vacuum and mop your floors before you wipe the walls and door frames. Here’s my basic order of top to bottom cleaning.

• Dust and wipe the ceilings and door frames
• Dust and wipe the walls/baseboards
• Wash any curtains/blinds/rods in that room (and hang the curtains up while they’re still damp to avoid ironing them… I despise ironing, by the way, so this was a huge win for me)
• Wash the windows (inside and out)
• Dust and wipe all flat surfaces (and inside any cabinets)
• Wash any rugs or accessories (pillow covers, blankets, couch cushions)
• Vacuum and mop the floors

I follow this small, but powerful routine in all rooms of the house as a simple way to organize the cleaning of each space.

5. Begin Cleaning

Now that you’ve assessed what needs to be done in each room and identified your top priorities, you’ve decided what order you’ll clean the rooms in, and you’ve laid out tasks for each day on your calendar, you’re ready to begin!

I recommend setting a timer for the amount of time you can designate to that task. This will help to keep you from getting sidetracked with other items to clean and keep you moving.

After that day’s task is completed, reward yourself by putting a big star or X on your calendar!

Why this Method is Fun and Easy

Instant gratification. When you get to cross out each day’s completed task, it’s a rush of instant gratification that motivates you to keep going. Anyone else super encouraged by crossing items off of a to-do list?

A sense of progress. Cleaning one room per week allows you to see the progress you’re making, since you’re not bouncing all over the house from room to room. At the end of the week, your room should be fully cleaned and you can start over with a new room come Monday.

A small time commitment each day. I think this alone was always the most overwhelming part for me, thinking that I had to spring clean my entire house in one week, and spend hours at it each day so I could get it all done. I usually have an uninterrupted 20-minute window of time each day that I can commit to one of these cleaning tasks, which is so much less daunting, and so much easier to stick with.

Short periods of time don’t leave you feeling exhausted. Since these tasks are only about 20 minutes long, it likely won’t overwhelm you, but instead keep you motivated to continue making progress.

By dividing your spring cleaning into a month (or two depending on how many rooms you have), it allows you to spend very short bits of time cleaning so that you’re not burned out and ready to throw your mop and broom in the garbage.

A cleaner, more organized home. This one is self explanatory. I think it’s safe to say that we all enjoy a house that’s more clean, tidy, and organized. Even if you’ve never done spring cleaning before, this is a great way to begin.

A well-deserved reward when you’re done. Sometimes we need an excuse to treat ourselves to something, so go ahead and give yourself a well-deserved reward after you’ve completed all the tasks on your spring cleaning calendar. You’ve earned it!

This article was originally published in This Evergreen Home Blog.